Signaling apparatus



June 12, 1923. 1,4583%1 J. W. KENNEDY SIGNALING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 2, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 1 June 12, 1923.

J. W. KENNEDY SIGNALING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 2, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 In. an v; nu :5115 i III I I Willi-Ill June 112, 1923.

J. W. KENNEDY SIGNALING APPARATUS Filed Oct: 2. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 fi' a.

Patented June 12, 1923.

UNHT

iaaaei JAMES WuKENN'EDY, or CANTON, OHIO.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 2, 1922. Serial No. 591,802.

T 0 all to 710m it may concern Be it known that I, JAMns W; KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Signaling Apparatus and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention consists of certainnovel. and useful improvements in railway signa ling apparatus, and relates more particularly to that class of signaling apparatus set forth in ,my UnitedStates Patent. No.1,421,252. My v devlce, all as set forth in my previous patent above referred to.

. present invention comprises certain improvements in the structure set forth in my said patent as will be fully'disclosed in the speci- 'fication following, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which my invention, is illustratechand being more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I have illustrated my present invention as applied more particularly to side tracks entering a mainline, but 'it is to be understood that my improvements may be used on' the main line itself, for backingup trains or.

7 switching cars on the main line.

In the construction disclosed in my former patent, the signaling apparatus is operated by the engine, so that in the backing up of V a long t-rain,.it may happen that the rear cars pass a crossing without setting the signal, and that the signal will not be set until the engine reaches the signal-operating devices.

' One of the objects of my present invention is to overcome this-fault, and to provide a mechanism wherein the warning signal will be set atonce by the rear car of a back- Wardly moving train,and the crossing will fbe immediately marked Clear if for any reasonthe direction ofgt-he train is changed to a; forward movement.

In the drawings: a

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a crossing provided with my 'improved safety appliances.

I Fig. 2 is a plan view of a main rail road track with aside track entering it, provided with my improved signal operating devices.

F 3 a's'ide view'of" a rail and signal operating; devices.

throughout. i

1 represents the main line of a railroad track broken away as in Figs. land 2, showmg that there ispractically no limitto the distance apart the operating mechanisms may be placed.

2 represents a crossing and 3 a signaling 4 represents a side track entering the main line, and is provided with means for operating the signaling devices which I will now describe.

5 represents the inside of a rail shown beneath the rail and being bent over the flange of the rail as at 7, to which it is clamped by a stud bolt 8 or other desired' means.

Secured to the plate 6 by suitable bolts '9 is a part 10 which engages the upper .sur-

face of the flange of'the rail and is provided with two ears 11 between which apart 12 is pivoted,'the said part 12 being provided with arecess in which is pivotally mounted a longitudinally eXt-ending ramp 13. j

The part 12 is, also provided with-a pin 14: adapted'to engage one end ofa spiral spring 14, tllQOtllQ-I" end of which engages a similar pin 16 projecting from apart 17 bolted to the plate 6, for a purpose hereinafterv described.

The ramp 13 consists of a rigid part-13' having a vertical flat face. adapted to normally lie adjacent to the'web of the rail and having its upper surface slightly concave as shown in Fig. 3, terminating in a longitudinally extending knife edge, merging with the inner face of the head of the rail, for a purpose hereinafter described. The ramp 'l3 is provided with a resilient part 18 ,firmlysecured to said rigid part as at 13 To "the .outerend of the resilient part 13 issecured 5-ithesignaleither to indicate danger, or a a plate 18 having an oval surface adapted to slide upon the face of a shoe 19 for a I 01 SHOW.

purpose [hereinafter set forth. The other end of the ramp 13 is curved as at 13*.

The shoe 19 is made in two parts as shown in Fig. 7 and comprises a plate 20'ada'pted to pass beneath the rail and to be bent over the flange of the rail as at 21, and secured in place by a stud bolt 22. Theother portion 23 of the shoe is formed to fit the web of the rail and the inner part of the rail as shown in Fig. 7 and is bolted to the .base 20.

24- represents one of the uprights upon which a disk 2.) is rotatably mounted, for operating the wires 26 setting and releasing the warning signals. The wires 26 are preferably additionallysupported upon a wire 27, bymeans of depending cords or wires, 28,

which prevent the operating wires 26 from;

sagging or breaking under the weight of. ice

The wires 26 are attached toQtension springs26 which in turn are secured to lugs -29 on the disk. Pivotally mounted on'lugs 30 on the disk 25, are vertically disposed rods 31 provided intermediate their ends with turn buckles 32, saidrods being pivotally secured at their lower extremities'to a cross jarm 33, rigidly secured to the end of the transverse operating rod 34, which is loosely mounted inasocket provided in the upright 24.

It will be noted that there are anumber of. openings provided in the cross; arm '33, 35

through which the rods 32Inay be "pivotally mounted on the cross arm, to permit the le- 7 verage to be varied so. that more than acertain' weight will be required to operate the 6 signal, thus preventing tampering with said signal. It is of course obvious that the disks I n25 must be similarly'provided with a plurality of apertures through which the upright rods 31 are secured to said disk.

-It will also benoted, that for'operating clear track the operating disk 25 is rotated always by the downward'pull of one. of the :rods 31.

The transverse rod 34 is connectedto the actuating. rod 36 by a universal joint 37.

The rod 26 at-a portion of its length is pro theramp 13. Iprefer to provide the lower face of thelug 39 with suitable roller bearings to prevent undue friction between said 111 and the plate 38.

' rom the above, the operation of my device is thought to beobvious, Assuming that a train is entering the side track '4 as in Figs. 2 and 3 from left to right, in which position the ramp 13 is down below the bearing surface of the wheel, the fiange of the wheel 40 passes between the ramp '13 and the ters Patent is rail, and tips the said ramp to one side on e the pivot 11 sliding the lug 39 on the'plate fected.

This action is made possible by the com- 'bined rigid and resilient parts of the ramp flange takes over the knife edge of the said part, hugs it to the rail and depres'ses'jfsaid ramp 41 on its pivot, forces the part 39 downwardly upon the part 38 androtates the actuating rod 36 connected by auniversal'joint 37 to the transverserod 34 con- ,nected to the signaling devices and sets the latter. a

It will be noted that the coiled springs 14 tend to maintain the ramps 13 and 41 m 0- sition against the rail returning, them to that position after the wheels have'passed.

It will also be noted-that after thewheels 38 and leaving the signaling'devices unafhave passed the fulcrumof the ramp, 41, as

the forwardportion offthe said ramp descends, the part 42 will actuate the rod-43 shown in dotted linesin'Fig. 3,which operating thepart 44 rotates the rod 45, raising the part 38 against the part39 and thereby setting the ramp 13 in operative position, fora train moving from right to left, it being a 1 fact that the operation of the ramp 41 as described sets the warning signal for. danger,

and the reverse movement of the train'actua-ting the ramp 13, sets the signal, showing the track to be clear. Y

It should be stated that the tension springs 26 serve a double purpose, infthatthey keep thewires taut without danger ofbreakage in hot or cold weather, and the other isthat if on a main line one train is setting'a 'signal for danger, and another train movingin the opposite direction is setting'the signalat safety, the springs compensate for the, pull in opposite directions and preventbreakage.

What Iv claim and desire to secure by Let- 1. Apparatus for operating a I permanentlylocated semaphore, comprising-a longitudinally extending ramp pivotallymounted upon a pivotally mounted support, an actuating rod,'a supplemental rod, operatively connected with the actuating rod for operating the semaphore and means provided on the longitudinally.eXtendingramp for rotating the actuating rodQ 2. Apparatus for operating a permanently located semaphore, comprising a pair of longitudinally extending -ramps pivotally mounted upon pivotally mounted supports, an actuating rod, supplemental rods connected to the actuating rods for ;.operating the semaphore, means provided on the'longitudinally extending ramps for rotating the actuating rods and a connection between the actuating rods, whereby the signals on the semaphore are alternately set to indicate danger or safety, by a moving train.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the connection between the actuating rod and the supplemental rod consists of a universal joint.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the longitudinally extending ramp is composed of rigid and resilient parts.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the longitudinally extending ramp is composed of rigid and resilient parts, the rigid part being curved at one end and provided with a concave upper face.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the support for the longitudinally extending ramp consists of a shoe comprising a base plate, a part rigidly secured to said base plate and fitting over the flange of the rail, said part being provided with a laterally operating hinged joint, a supplemental part hinged to said flange engaging part and provided with a longitudinally operating hinged joint, said base plate-being bent over the flange and adjustably secured thereto, an L-shaped part rigidly secured to the base plate, a spring interposed between the face of the L-shaped part and the supplemental part and means for holding said spring in place.

7. A signaling apparatus for railroad crossings comprising a plurality of vertically disposed supports and a semaphore, wire supports pivotally mounted on the uprights, vertically disposed rods having their upper ends pivotally secured to the wire sup ports and their lower ends pivotally secured to a cross arm, a transverse arm rigidly secured to said cross arm and loosely mounted in asocket in the upright, wires extending from the wire supports for operating the signals on the semaphore, and means for rotating said transverse rod whereby the upright rods are alternately raised and lowered, moving the wires to set a desired signal on the semaphore.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the vertically disposed rods include turn buckles.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the wires are secured to their supports by tension springs.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, in which a longitudinally extending wire is provided, having a plurality of downwardly extending flexible supports engaging and supporting the operating wires.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the cross arm and wire supports are provided with a plurality of points to which the vertically disposed rods may be secured, whereby the leverage necessary to operate the wire supports and wires may be increased or diminished.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMEs'w. KENNEDY. 

